Why the walleye limits rankle, what the cops say about the Fox News anchor, and veterans who retreat into art

Friday, May 23, 2014

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Walleye limit on a 'crown jewel' sparks outcryMille Lacs Lake is a big deal for the DNR. It's been called the crown jewel of the state's large-lake walleye fishery. Local businesses thrive and fail with the walleye population, and right now the walleye population is at a 40-year low.

How many walleye are stocked?Stocking has been common in Minnesota for nearly a century but Neil Vanderbosch, a fisheries program consultant for the DNR, said most people don't know much about it. We asked him for a crash course.

You caught 'em. Now, pro tips for cookingThose who make their living plying the waters of Lake Mille Lacs eat a lot of fish. It's fresh. It's plentiful, and it's good prepared in a lot of ways. Here are a few recipes favored by Mille Lacs fishing professionals.

Cops: Charged Fox News anchor was in rehabA Fox News weekend anchor who was arrested after he allegedly became combative with police at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport may have taken a drug that didn't mix well with alcohol, according to police.

Retreating with the artsPaul Riedner, a former U.S. Army deep sea diver, is a bundle of energy -- good energy. The young vet lives with his wife and kids in Minneapolis, but this week he's hanging out in his home town of Red Wing and nearby Frontenac for the "Minnesota Veterans Art Experience."

The great Stillwater chalk-drawing scandalIt seemed like a creative and relatively harmless bit of p.r., but evidently someone in Stillwater called the cops on a coffee shop owner for drawing sidewalk advertisements in chalk.

Video: When fog attacksFrom the "Can Your Winter Do This?" file: A couple of fishermen were out on Lake Michigan near Traverse City this week when this came along.

Muscling invasives aside with cashA scattershot approach has long been a weak link in the fight to stop the lake-to-lake movement of zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil and other species damaging Minnesota waterways. More help, though, is on the way.

Twins proving pessimists wrong, so farThe Minnesota Twins begin a three-game series tonight in San Francisco against the Giants today. The Twins go into tonight's game with a record of 23-21. That's a better start than most of the experts expected for the team. MPR's Phil Picardi spoke with Howard Sinker, one of the pre-season pessimists. Sinker is a digital sports editor for the Star Tribune.

A problem weedA bill that would legalize some forms of medical marijuana is on track to become law in Minnesota in a matter of days. MPR's Phil Picardi spoke with Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger about what the does, and doesn't mean.

House defense bill: Military DREAMers out, climate science ban inGOP leaders leaders allowed to the floor an amendment banning the Defense Department from participating in climate change research. It was sponsored by West Virginia Republican Rep. David McKinley, who questioned the validity of climate science research generally but also argued that reducing the use of coal wasn't worth the harm it would do to the economy.

Billionaire environmentalist targets 7 electionsSan Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer has already pledged at least $50 million to his superPAC, NextGen Climate, and now the superPAC's leaders are laying out a hardball strategy for the fall campaign. The goal: tag seven Republican candidates as "science deniers" who are on the wrong side of the increasingly urgent climate change issue.

Should the Redskins change their name?Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken were among 49 senators who signed a letter urging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to endorse a name change for the Washington Redskins. Do you think the Redskins should change their name?

What those baby photos on social media can teach us about momsYou can't miss 'em. Baby pictures have flooded so many Instagram and Facebook feeds that an app is now available to block them, if you want. But as the newness of social media collides with an experience as old as time -- motherhood -- researchers are beginning to study its sociological and psychological impacts.

Remembering Minnesota's fallen troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyondWith Memorial Day upon us, the following is a brief account of the almost 100 military personnel with Minnesota connections who have died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since the onset of hostilities that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as non-combat deaths and non-military deaths related to the wars.